Open quantum dynamics of single-photon optomechanical devices

Abstract

We study the quantum dynamics of a Michelson interferometer with Fabry-Perot cavity arms and one movable end mirror, and driven by a single photon --- an optomechanical device previously studied by Marshall et al. as a device that searches for gravity decoherence. We obtain an exact analytical solution for the system's quantum mechanical equations of motion, including details about the exchange of the single photon between the cavity mode and the external continuum. The resulting time evolution of the interferometer's fringe visibility displays interesting new features when the incoming photon's frequency uncertainty is narrower or comparable to the cavity's line width --- only in the limiting case of much broader-band photon does the result return to that of Marshall et al., but in this case the photon is not very likely to enter the cavity and interact with the mirror, making the experiment less efficient and more susceptible to imperfections. In addition, we show that in the strong-coupling regime, by engineering the incoming photon's wave function, it is possible to prepare the movable mirror into an arbitrary quantum state of a multi-dimensional Hilbert space.

14 pages and 9 figures. Comments are welcome

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• Thermodynamic consistency of the optomechanical master equation
• Enhancement of few-photon optomechanical effects with cross-Kerr nonlinearity
• Quantum trajectories for propagating Fock states
• Generalized Ultrastrong Optomechanics
• Cavity nano-optomechanics in the ultrastrong coupling regime with ultrasensitive force sensors
• Enhancing quadratic optomechanical coupling via nonlinear medium and lasers
• Cavity Mode Frequencies and Strong Optomechanical Coupling in Two-Membrane Cavity Optomechanics
• Single photon transmission in strong three-mode optomechanical circulatory system
• Quantum noise of white light cavity using double-pumped gain medium
• Operator approach to quantum optomechanics
• Optomechanical devices based on traveling-wave microresonators
• The prospect of detecting single-photon force effects in cavity optomechanics
• Mirror-induced decoherence in hybrid quantum-classical theory
• All-optical quantum simulation of ultrastrong optomechanics
• Nonclassical mechanical states in cavity optomechanics in the single-photon strong-coupling regime
• Analog curved spacetimes in the reversed dissipation regime of cavity optomechanics
• Quantum simulation of a three-mode optomechanical system based on the Fredkin-type interaction
• Spectral characterization of couplings in a mixed optomechanical model
• Characteristic Operator Functions for Quantum Input-Plant-Output Models & Coherent Control